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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22539478">Origami</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lusts/pseuds/lusts'>lusts</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Produce 101 (TV), UP10TION, X1 (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 13:54:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,322</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22539478</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lusts/pseuds/lusts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>About the origami's present in Wooseok's secured locker.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Wooseok | Wooshin/Lee Jinhyuk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Origami</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            A translation of

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22785745">Origami</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/clowningweeb/pseuds/clowningweeb">clowningweeb</a>.
        </li>

    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Weishin — origami.</p>
<p>(n. the art of paper folding)</p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>On his sixth year in the academy, Wooseok found a paper plane inside of his locker.</p>
<p>The plane was shaped with a bright yellow paper, nicely placed on top of the book ‘Secrecy and Power: The Life of J. Edgar Hoover’ from the library that was two weeks over the due date (blame the Weapon and Warfare assignment for claiming his two days worth of sleepless nights without mercy).</p>
<p>He left his locker open for a moment while his eyes stared at that one paper plane, squinting with suspicion. His head was working hard with numbers of possible analysis about what would happen if he touched the paper plane and if nothing happened, if the position of the object would stimulate other responses. His eyes were judging the small paper plane. Throughout his bare-eyed inspection, no weird visible substance was seen on the surface and when he boldly leaned in, there was no smell that made him feel numb, experience decrease of consciousness, or even shortness of breath.</p>
<p>The paper plane appeared to be safe, it seemed.</p>
<p>It was no exaggeration on Wooseok’s part. This was a normal precaution that he did. A paper plane in a locker was not a common occurrence within his academy because one, his academy was not your usual public school where it was typical for the students to bloom romance by slipping <em> silly </em> things inside each other’s lockers and two, how in the world was this person able to decipher the secret code embedded on his locker—that he made exactly eight digits, all with different numbers—only to leave a paper plane?</p>
<p>(Wooseok thought, did CIA or FBI pay a visit yesterday and purposefully left a small puzzle for students?)</p>
<p>It was highly unlikely. None of his friends was seen freezing in front of their locker nor they shout ‘hey-I-got-a-paper-plane!’ to one another. The entirety of the sub-level one hallway dedicated especially for lockers was fairly quiet. But not silent enough for any reaction to go unnoticed by Wooseok.</p>
<p>(At times like this, Wooseok was thankful he didn’t miss any of his behavioral analysis class.)</p>
<p>It felt like he had been in front of the locker for a little too long and he knew four surveillance cameras would suspect him if he didn’t move from his spot soon. So took a risk he did: shoving the paper plane inside his pocket and took his books along for the ‘introduction to terrorism’ class. He calmly closed his locker and moved towards the camera. Because if he turned his back, he would be subject to suspicion after acting a little bit out of the ordinary.</p>
<p>Wooseok made a turn on the corner of the corridor and entered the left wing bathroom.</p>
<p>Inside, he chose the cubicle furthest from the entrance and sat on top of the toilet. He reached into his pants pocket and took the now slightly ruffled paper plane that was shoved in a hurry. As a precaution, a scheduled mail was already sent to Somi through his dernwatch—to look for him in sub-level one bathroom if he didn't show up to class in 10 minutes.</p>
<p>Carefully, he peeled open the paper plane. The trace of every fold was mapped on the white portion of the paper. There was a small rip from Wooseok's accidental harsh pull.</p>
<p>Upon fully opening the paper, he discovered a handwriting in Spanish.</p>
<p>
  <em> Si yo fuera azafata, te llevaría en mi avión, pero como no lo soy, te llevo en mi corazón. </em>
</p>
<p>Wooseok frowned in confusion. All the struggle to generate possible bad outcomes about potential internal assault on one of the students (aka himself) and this was just one big nauseating joke for strict holders of the school rules: to use no other language but the officially chosen one for the month. And in this case, Spanish.</p>
<p>But Wooseok had to admit that the joke gained a smile on his coral lips. On days full of tension from all the assignments that came his way non-stop, someone just brought something normal for him.</p>
<p>Wooseok folded the paper back and slipped it into his notebook. He spent the rest of the Introduction to Terrorism class thinking about paper plane with an unknown sender.</p>
<p>
  <em> (If I were a flight attendant, I’d carry you in my airplane, but since I’m not, I’ll carry you in my heart.) </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>🛫</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wooseok did not change the secret combination of his locker.</p>
<p>So when he made it in front of his locker a few days after to take his Spanish dictionary, he found another origami on top of the same book as yesterday. It was, however, not a yellow paper plane this time. It was a diamond-shaped origami in sky blue.</p>
<p>He ignored the precaution and went straight to snatch the diamond. Closing the locker with his elbow, he took quick strides towards the left wing bathroom. The class was starting in five minutes and he didn’t have much time left to ponder in front of the locker—thinking about who the sender might be.</p>
<p>Like a familiar routine, he chose the very last cubicle and sat on the toilet. None of those scheduled mail to Somi nor thinking too far just to open the origami this time.</p>
<p>This origami used was the same kind he received a few days ago. There was also the same handwriting with the same language of the month. He could not contain a small chuckle from his lips as he mumbled the words written on the paper he was holding in amusion.</p>
<p>“<em>Quisiera ser joyero para poder apreciar todos los días un diamante como tú. </em> Pffft..., how absurd.”</p>
<p>The dernwatch around his wrist was buzzing gently. A reminder that he only had three minutes left before the language class began. He quickly stuffed the paper into his pocket then did a half-run through the sub-level one corridor to the class on the third floor.</p>
<p>Wooseok thought the joke inside the origami was ridiculous. It did not stop his head from echoing what was written inside the paper all day, syllables by syllables, though.</p>
<p>
  <em> (I’d like to be a jeweler to be able to appreciate a diamond like you every day.) </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <a href="https://write.as/eisos0411lp2ibbw.md"> 💎 </a>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Exactly one week after the diamond-shaped origami, Wooseok was greeted by yet another origami inside his locker. This time, a glass bottle filled with small stars with a sticky note on top of the lid.</p>
<p>Wooseok pulled the sticky note off and read what was in it. Smiling like a fool in love (even though he wasn't. Take a note). He wondered how many pick-up lines did the creator of the papers have, for his locker to be filled with words that kept flowing inside of those beautiful papers?</p>
<p>
  <em> Ojalá la mitad de las estrellas brillaran tanto como tus ojos. </em>
</p>
<p>He was pretty familiar with this phrase. What he did not expect however, was the effect it gave. It felt so much different when the one sending it was one of the advanced, highly skilled code crackers with the ability to bypass Wooseok's locker's security system just to leave a few words for him.</p>
<p>
  <em> (If only half of the stars in the sky shined as brightly as your eyes.) </em>
</p>
<p>Not gonna lie, he was flattered.</p>
<p>Truthfully, he could just go to the security unit of the academy right now. Asking for the reel near the lockers during potential hours he predicted the perpetrator would start his mission. But Wooseok chose to take his time, to immerse with their secret. As if there was a reason why those origamis was placed purposefully on top of a book about secrets and powers.</p>
<p>(Which in fact described both well—him and the perpetrator.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And so it went on for months—Wooseok finding origamis inside his locker. He remembered everything started when the students would wear thin, sweat-absorbing uniform with short sleeves. Now he found them wearing sweaters and the term was almost over.</p>
<p>(The wait also went on for months, Wooseok and the origamis inside his locker.)</p>
<p>On the last day in the academy, Wooseok planned to empty his locker first before packing his belongings to go home with. The majority of the students were currently in the dormitory. Getting ready to return back home even though there were some who opted to stay as they were too lazy to go back (that, or they didn't have a family).</p>
<p>The sub-level one hallway was dead empty. Only himself with a piece of origami shaped like a snowflake inside his locker.</p>
<p>After making sure no one would catch him in action, he opened the folds on the spot. There was no special language at the end of the term and Wooseok wondered whether this person would start using the usual introductory language or went straight to using Swahili. His heart was beating loud inside of his chest. His fingers were trembling. Because this was the moment he had been constantly anticipating every time he opened his locker throughout the whole term.</p>
<p>
  <em> I must be a snowflake because I’ve fallen for you. </em>
</p>
<p>Just a plain language and nothing that made him work hard on translating (last month he got Bengali and Wooseok sucked a <em> lot </em> at it). For a long time he stared at the rather different origami: more slippery with glitters that would sparkle every time they hit the light. Some of the bits got stuck on Wooseok’s fingers, reminding himself to stop by the bathroom to wash his hands.</p>
<p>As per usual, he pocketed the origami and walked casually towards the communal bathroom. There was no class nor assignments in a short due. He wasn’t all that curious to open the paper on the spot since he already knew the words he would repeat until his consciousness switched to dreams tonight.</p>
<p>As he made an entrance, there was another person washing his hands.</p>
<p>Wooseok didn’t notice who. His focus was on washing his hands quickly and then going back to his dorm. He would be putting the origami inside a special box with double padlock. Nobody was allowed to see his little secret.</p>
<p>“You don’t have to wash it. It’s edible.”</p>
<p>Wooseok’s motion went into a halt. The water was still running from the tap and the voice of the foreign entity echoed inside the big bathroom and inside Wooseok’s head.</p>
<p>“It’s uncommon for people to stick edible glitters on origami’s. How would I know?”</p>
<p>His fingers were lanky. And long. The same hand reached out to touch the tap in front of Wooseok and stopped the water from running. When Wooseok finally looked up, he found a grin on the other male’s face that he was familiar with but didn’t know personally.</p>
<p><em> Like hell, who didn’t know him? </em> Wooseok thought. He knew the guy. Lee Jinhyuk. The very same Lee of TEN—ten influential families in his country, from wealth to power.</p>
<p>Lee Jinhyuk, the only third generation to become DERN student throughout the history of the founding of the academy.</p>
<p>“Feisty,” the guy chuckled softly, “you seemed happy when you received those origami’s.”</p>
<p>“Was it really you who sent them?”</p>
<p>“Not everybody could figure out your complicated ass codes.” There was pride present in his words. “It's only a school locker and yet you went through lengths to protect it like that. I was expecting to find an exploding gummy bear, anesthetic eau de toilette, or even a secret file. But it was nothing interesting.”</p>
<p>“I like codes. My favorite subject is about codes.” Wooseok shrugged. Trying to sound indifferent even though he couldn’t help a smile from appearing—his code was of something on the advanced side.</p>
<p>“Oh, but you don’t mind if I ask to get to know you in person, do you?” the smile never left his face. It kept growing until it reached the eyes of the guy who had been looking at Wooseok intensely. He also gave off an aura of confidence which made Wooseok curious, was it because he was a DERN or was it the fact that he was born as a part of TEN?</p>
<p>“I don’t think you're completely oblivious about my name.” Wooseok went straight on. “You knew the code of my locker but not my name?”</p>
<p>“I’d love to hear you say your own name with that pretty voice of yours.”</p>
<p>It would be a lie if Wooseok said he wasn’t taken aback. He wasn’t joking around when his breath hitched and suddenly, he was aware of the air conditioning inside the bathroom. Maybe he was shaking. Or maybe that voice laced with confidence had already held him captive.</p>
<p>“Kim Wooseok.” he held out his hand hesitantly. Not sure if the person would respond to his invitation with a handshake or a twist on his arm as a practice to what had been taught in their judo classes</p>
<p>—which none of that he did.</p>
<p>His hand was indeed taken. But only to be brought close to his lips for a kiss on his fingers. Like a nobleman who met his fellow men at a masked party and got acquaintanced before moving along with the music. But they were not in a ballroom nor a field roofed with stars to bring magical and sweet moments into existence. They were in a communal bathroom. With every word echoing from the corners and a rather dense carbolic aroma filling every part of their sense of smell.</p>
<p>“You’re creepy.” Wooseok commented after he let go of his hand. The tip of his fingers felt hot. Maybe it was why he could feel the coldness of the lips that kissed his hand to this second.</p>
<p>“You didn’t push me away.” Jinhyuk responded calmly. He put both hands in his pockets and looked at Wooseok with eyes that made his heart do a little leap.</p>
<p>And in that moment, Wooseok knew he was screwed.</p>
<p>(And perhaps fell in love.)</p>
<p>*</p>
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